Editor's Blog: Last chance saloon for Albion

Last updated : 01 April 2009 By Wba-mad Editor

There's no doubt in my mind that if we're going to salvage anything from this dismal season then we have to win on Saturday against Stoke. It's not something which we've managed to do much over the years - in fact I've only ever seen us beat Stoke once! - but if we fail to gain three points I fear the gap might be too much for us to bridge with only seven games left. Scott Carson has today issued a rallying call to his fellow teammates imploring them to maintain hopes of survival - although I seriously doubt whether the hope's still there to be honest.

The results against West Ham and Bolton in recent weeks may, I fear, have already knocked any remaining belief out of the players - especially after we might have gained more than two points. Sure the sounds coming from Mowbray and certain players are that of positive thinking, but it cannot be overlooked that one of most talented players at the club has been pulled from the firing line because of a lack of confidence recently. Whether Valero is suffering from a drop in confidence/form after a hard season or Mowbray has finally realised he's not ready for the rigours of Premier League football is questionable.

Mowbray has admitted he may well be to blame for Valero's downfall after the failure to bring a specialist defensive midfielder to the club. It seems that we've been searching for this type of player for a long time now but I really can't see where he'd fit into the team. Don't get me wrong I agree we desperately need somebody to win the ball back but could you see Koren, Greening or Morrison being dropped to accommodate this player? It's difficult to even see where Valero fits into this midfield with Brunt preferred on the left! A certain Youssouf Mulumbu was brought to the club in January to fill this role but he hasn't had a sniff after his thigh injury in Spain. I believe he's fit again now but I still don't expect him to figure on Saturday...football's a funny old game eh!